～て頂戴【～てちょうだい】

てちょうだい is a familiar "please do": the て-form of a verb plus ちょうだい, usually written in kana rather than as 頂戴. It sounds soft and a little motherly: you hear it mostly from women, and from adults speaking to children.

For "please don't", put ちょうだい after the ない-form plus で.

てちょうだい, てください and てくれ

てください is polite and works almost anywhere. てちょうだい and てくれ are both for people close to you: てちょうだい sounds gentle, てくれ sounds blunt and masculine. Neither belongs at work or with strangers.

Usage notes

These go beyond ちょうだい after a verb.

ちょうだい after a noun

On its own after a noun, ちょうだい means "give me". Children say it all the time.

頂戴する

The verb ちょうだい頂戴する is a formal humble word for "receive", the opposite end of the register from the request.